Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 The days leading up to the next full moon dragged by slowly for Fireheart. It already seemed ages since the last Gathering. Rain clouds had kept the moon covered the last time, and the Clans had stayed away from Fourtrees. Meanwhile patrol after patrol reported scenting RiverClan warriors at Sunningrocks, and ShadowClan scent had been discovered again by the Owl Tree. When he wasn't hunting or patrolling, Fireheart divided his time between Cloudkit, Cinderpaw, and Brackenpaw. Even though Graystripe had resumed his role as Brackenpaw's mentor, Fireheart soon began to notice the young apprentice at loose ends from time to time, his mentor nowhere in sight. "Hunting," was all Brackenpaw would say when Fireheart asked where Graystripe had gone. "Why didn't you go with him?" meowed Fireheart. "He said I could go tomorrow." Fireheart felt the usual prickle of anger at Graystripe's stubbornness, but he shrugged it away. He'd given up trying to make Graystripe

第二十二章对火心来说，下一个满月的日子过得很慢。 离上次聚会似乎已经很久了。 上次，雨云遮住了月亮，氏族也远离了四棵树。 与此同时，一个又一个巡逻队报告在太阳岩发现了河族战士的气味，而猫头鹰树也再次发现了暗影族的气味。 当他不打猎或巡逻时，火心把时间分给了Cloudkit、Cinderpaw和Brackenpaw。 尽管灰条纹重新成为了斧爪的导师，但火心很快就注意到这个年轻的学徒时不时地无所事事，他的导师却无处可寻。 “打猎。”当火心问起灰条纹去哪儿时，爪子只会回答。 “你为什么不跟他一起去？”火心叫道。 “他说我明天可以去。” 火心又像往常一样，对格雷条纹的固执感到一阵愤怒，但他耸耸肩，把怒气消了。 他放弃了制作《灰条纹》的尝试

see sense—they'd hardly spoken since Fireheart had brought Cloudkit into the camp—but he made an effort to take Brackenpaw out whenever Graystripe went missing, just to keep the apprentice out of sight. Fireheart knew that Tigerclaw wouldn't accept Brackenpaw's answers so easily. Finally the full moon appeared in a cloudless sky. Fireheart came back from hunting early. He passed the fallen oak, deserted now that Swiftpaw and Speckletail's kit had recovered. He dropped his catch on the pile and headed toward Yellowfang's den to visit Cinderpaw. Even the threat of greencough had left the camp, for now. Only Cinderpaw remained with the medicine cat. As Fireheart padded through the tunnel he could see the small gray she-cat in the clearing ahead. She was helping Yellowfang prepare some herbs. Fireheart winced as he watched Cinderpaw limp heavily toward the split rock with a mouthful of dried leaves. "Fireheart!" Cinderpaw spat out the herbs and turned to greet him as he emerged from the tunnel. "I could only just scent you through these

这是有道理的——自从火心把云kit带进营地后，他们就几乎没有说过话——但每当灰条纹失踪时，他就会努力把爪子带出去，只是为了不让学徒被人看见。 火心知道虎爪不会这么轻易接受爪子的回答。 最后，一轮满月出现在万里无云的天空。 火心很早就打猎回来了。 他经过那棵倒下的橡树，雨爪和斑点尾巴的工具箱都找回来了，那里已经空无一人了。 他把抓来的东西丢在那堆东西上，朝黄牙的窝走去，要去看Cinderpaw。 就连“绿色”的威胁也暂时离开了营地。 只有灰姑娘和药猫在一起。 火心穿过隧道时，他看见前面空地上有只灰色的小母猫。 她在帮黄方准备草药。 火心吓了一跳，看着煤渣爪带着一口干树叶，步履蹒跚地走向裂裂的岩石。 “Fireheart !”灰姑娘把草药吐了出来，当他从隧道里出来时，她转过身来迎接他。 “我只能通过这些闻出你的气味

disgusting things!" "Those disgusting things helped cure your leg!" growled Yellowfang. "Well, you should have used more," retorted Cinderpaw, but Fireheart was relieved to see she had a mischievous glint in her eye. "Look at this!" She twitched her twisted hind leg. "I can hardly reach my claws to wash them." "Perhaps I should give you a few more exercises to loosen it up," meowed Yellowfang. "No, thanks!" mewed Cinderpaw quickly. "They hurt!" "They're meant to hurt! It shows they're working." The old medicine cat turned to Fireheart. "Perhaps you'll have more luck persuading her to do them. I'm going into the forest to dig up some comfrey roots." "I'll try," Fireheart promised as Yellowfang padded past him. "You'll know if she's doing them right," the medicine cat called over her shoulder, "because she'll complain!" Cinderpaw limped over to Fireheart and touched her nose to his. "Thanks for coming to see

恶心的东西!”“那些恶心的东西治好了你的腿！”黄牙咆哮道。 “嗯，你应该用更多的。”灰姑娘爪子反驳道，但火心看到她的眼睛里闪烁着淘气的光芒，松了一口气。 “看这个！”她扭动着她那扭曲的后腿。 “我几乎够不到我的爪子去洗它们。” “也许我应该多给你一些练习，让你放松一下。”黄牙喵喵地说。 “不用了，谢谢！” “他们伤害!”“它们是用来伤人的！”这表明他们正在发挥作用。” 老药猫转向火心。 “也许你能说服她做这些事。 我要到森林里去挖一些紫草根。” “我试试。”当黄牙从他身边走过时，火心答应道。 “你会知道她做得对不对，”药猫从她的肩膀上喊道，“因为她会抱怨的！”灰姑娘爪子一瘸一拐地走到火心跟前，用鼻子碰了碰他的鼻子。 “谢谢你来看我

me." She sat down and grimaced as she tucked her bad leg under her. "I like coming to see you," Fireheart purred. "I miss our training sessions." He regretted his words as soon as he'd uttered them. A wistful look clouded Cinderpaw's eyes. "Me too," she meowed. "When do you think I'll be able to start again?" Fireheart stared at her, his heart sinking. Clearly Yellowfang hadn't told her yet that she would never be a warrior. "Perhaps if we try some of your exercises, it'll help," he meowed evasively. "Okay," mewed Cinderpaw. "But just a few." She lay on her side and stretched out her leg till her face was twisted with pain. Slowly, her teeth clenched, she began to move it backward and forward. "You're doing really well," Fireheart meowed, hiding the sorrow that lay like a rock in his stomach. Cinderpaw let her leg drop and lay still for a moment; then she pushed herself up. Fireheart watched her quietly as she shook her head. "I'm never going to be a warrior, am I?"

我。”她坐了下来，把坏腿夹在身下，做了个鬼脸。 “我喜欢来看你。”火心咕噜着。 “我想念我们的训练课程。” 他一说出这些话就后悔了。 一种渴望的神情模糊了灰姑娘的眼睛。 “我也是，”她叫道。“你觉得我什么时候能重新开始？”火心凝视着她，心一沉。 显然，黄牙还没有告诉她，她永远不会成为一名战士。 “也许我们试试你的练习，会有帮助。”他闪烁其词地喵喵叫道。 “好吧，”灰姑娘叫道。“但只有几个。” 她侧身躺下，伸直腿，直到脸疼得扭曲。 她咬紧牙关，开始慢慢地前后移动它。 “你做得很好。”火心喵喵地叫着，把像石头一样压在肚子里的悲伤藏了起来。 灰姑娘放下腿，静静地躺了一会儿；然后她把自己推了起来。 火心静静地看着她摇着头。 “我永远不会成为一名战士，对吧？”

Fireheart couldn't lie to her. "No," he whispered. "I'm so sorry." He stretched his muzzle toward her and licked her head. After a few moments, she gave a long sigh and lay down again. "I knew it really," she mewed. "It's just that sometimes I dream about being in the forest, hunting with Brackenpaw, and then I wake up and the pain in my leg reminds me I'll never hunt again. It feels too much to bear. I have to pretend that maybe, one day, I'll be able to hunt." Fireheart couldn't bear to see her in such low spirits. "I'll take you out into the forest again," he promised. "We'll find the oldest, slowest mouse in the woods. It won't stand a chance against you." Cinderpaw looked at him and purred gratefully. Fireheart purred back at her, but there was a question that had been nagging at him since the accident. "Cinderpaw," he began, "can you remember what happened when the monster hit you? Was Tigerclaw there?" Cinderpaw's eyes clouded with confusion. "I d- don't know," she stammered. Fireheart felt a pang of guilt as he saw her flinch away from the

火心不能对她撒谎。 “不，”他低声说。“我很抱歉。” 他把嘴伸向她，舔她的头。 过了一会儿，她长长地叹了口气，又躺下了。 “我真的知道，”她叫道。 “只是有时我梦见自己在森林里，和爪子一起打猎，然后我醒来，腿上的疼痛提醒我，我再也不会打猎了。 感觉太难以忍受了。 我必须假装，也许有一天，我还能打猎。” 火心不忍心看到她情绪这么低落。 “我再带你到森林里去。”他答应道。 “我们会在树林里找到最老、最慢的老鼠。 它对付不了你。” Cinderpaw看着他，感激地咕噜着。 火心也对她咕噜了一声，但自从那次事故以来，有一个问题一直困扰着他。 “Cinderpaw，”他开始说，“你还记得怪物打你的时候发生了什么吗？ 虎爪在吗？”灰姑娘的眼睛里充满了困惑。 “我——我不知道，”她结结巴巴地说。 火心看到她退缩着，心里一阵内疚

memory. "I went straight to the burned ash where Dustpaw said Tigerclaw would be, and then there was the monster and…I don't really remember." "You wouldn't have realized how thin the verge was there." Fireheart shook his head slowly. "You must have run straight onto the Thunderpath." Why wasn't Tigerclaw where he said he'd be? he thought with a flash of rage. He could have stopped her from running out! Princess's words rang ominously in his head. Was it a trap? He pictured Tigerclaw, crouching downwind, hidden among the trees, staring out at the verge, waiting— "How's Cloudkit?" Cinderpaw's mew cut short his thoughts. She clearly wanted to change the subject. Fireheart was happy to oblige, especially if it meant talking about Princess's son. "Getting bigger every day," he meowed proudly. "I'm dying to meet him. When are you going to bring him to visit me?" "As soon as Brindleface lets me," Fireheart answered. "She won't let him out of her sight at the moment."

内存。“我径直走到尘埃子说虎爪会在的地方，然后那个怪物就在那里……我不太记得了。” “你不会意识到那里的边缘有多薄。” 火心缓缓地摇了摇头。 “你一定是直接跑到雷道上去了。” 虎爪为什么不在他说的地方？ 他心里一阵愤怒。 他本可以阻止她跑出去的！公主的话不祥地在他的脑海中回响。 这是个陷阱吗？他想象着虎爪蜷缩在下风处，藏在树林里，凝视着外面的边缘，等待着——“云kit怎么样了？”灰姑娘的新消息打断了他的思绪。 她显然想换个话题。 火心很乐意帮忙，特别是如果这意味着谈论公主的儿子。 “一天比一天大，”他骄傲地喵喵叫道。 “我非常想见见他。你什么时候带他来看我？”“只要斑脸同意。”火心回答。 “她此刻不会让他离开她的视线。”